


There's No Curing Our Contamination

by Croik



Series: Radioactive Boyfriends [8]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Comic Book Science, Dubious Consent, M/M, More tags to be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-25
Updated: 2017-05-04
Packaged: 2018-09-19 19:21:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9457070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Croik/pseuds/Croik
Summary: Two weeks afterThe Winter Soldier, the Avengers learn that it wasn't just SHIELD that collapsed beneath HYDRA's assault.  As the fractured remnants reform into a new and deadly threat, Peter and Bruce especially find their powers and their relationship put to their most challenging tests.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I know it's been a long time since I updated, but the series is BACK for one final installment. I have a whole lot of fic planned with a ton of characters and twists, and I hope you enjoy it. Many thanks to my sister TK for always encouraging me, and Talavin for helping me brainstorm over the incoming medical science that'll appear in this fic. 
> 
> Thank you all for patiently following me, for your feedback and support. It means a lot to me and I'm excited to finally share this fic with you.

The Playground had yet to live up to its name.

It certainly had everything a fractured spy agency on the run needed in order to rebuild. Expert technicians were already outfitting The Bus with a variety of long-overdue repairs and upgrades. They had rations and armaments to last a year, more if they were especially careful, and several long-held patents and wise investments promised to keep them funded for the foreseeable future. His agents had already settled in, making themselves at home in the armory, the science lab, and the training grounds.

And the holding cells. And the medical ward.

New agents were finding their way to the facility every day, having fought out from under HYDRA, dodging various military organizations on the way. Very few had any victories to speak of. It would be a long time before Coulson would be able to refer to their new home's moniker without wincing.

Early in the morning, Coulson made his way through the lab section of The Playground with a tablet tucked under his arm. He received a few nods from the agents already at their stations. One or two greeted him as "Director" and he had to remind himself that Fury wasn't a step ahead of him. That would take some getting used to, too. When he reached the furthest room of the medical ward, he knocked and then entered without waiting for a response.

As expected, he found Simmons there. She was sitting at Fitz's bedside, wearing the same clothes she had been during her evening shift. She stopped speaking as Coulson entered. "Agent Coulson," she said, but then she shook herself. "I'm sorry, sir. Director."

Coulson smiled thinly. "It's weird, isn't it?"

He was relieved to see her smile back. "For now, yes. I'll get the hang of it, though." She looked to the figure in the bed beside her. "So will he."

Coulson looked for himself, and for all his years of training it was hard. Leo Fitz was stretched out on the hospital bed, covered in a gown and sheets, breathing entirely with the help of the surrounding machines. Unconscious and unresponsive for four days. Coulson had certainly seen—and lived through—agents coming back from much worse. They all still had hope, but hope didn't always make it any easier.

"No change so far, huh," he said.

"Not yet," said Simmons. Her shoulders started to fall, but then she seemed to realize as much, because she gathered herself up with a visibly conscious effort. "Not yet. But I haven't exhausted all our options—and it hasn't even been that long. Relatively speaking, of course. I still have ideas…."

Her eyes went briefly out of focus, and Coulson gave her the moment she needed to collect herself. When she faced him, it was with determination. "There's nothing I wouldn't do to get him back," she said.

"I know." Coulson handed her the tablet he'd brought with him. "Which is why I think you should take a look at this."

***

Hulk took up most of the foreground. The broad span of his shoulders was smeared with sweat and ash, and atop that a shadow of the Times Tower partially obscured by smoke. The bus carriage was bent like tinfoil beneath his hands, pried open to reveal the tragic scene. The only red in the photo was the Spider-Man suit. An untrained eye wouldn't have noticed the dark stain on the boy's jeans was actually blood. The boy's face was likewise obscured, his arm outstretched, guiding the audience's attention straight to the costume's white eyes.

"Eddie Brock took this," said Peter as he scrolled through the thousands of comments beneath its posting. "I wonder what they paid him for it."

Bruce and Tony stopped their conversation to look his way. "You're not looking at that photo again, are you?" asked Bruce.

"They say he's going to get a Pulitzer for it."

Tony heaved a sigh. "Come on, Parker. Get something to eat."

"I'm coming," said Peter, but then he scrolled back to the top of the post. Ten more comments had been added since he'd last refreshed. _This is what a REAL hero looks like_ , said one. He was halfway through the rest when Bruce reached over the back of the sofa and took the phone out of his hand. "Hey—"

"Peter," Bruce said seriously, and he couldn't help but flinch a little. "Come get some food."

Peter shrugged and started to say he wasn't hungry, but judging by the face Bruce was making, he wasn't about to be let off the hook that easily. "Yeah, okay," he said, and he let Bruce tug him to his feet.

"You do realize you're required to eat at least one tenth of all the food that's here, yes?" said Tony as they approached. He gestured to the spread his staff had laid out for them, as impressive a display as Peter had ever seen, crammed with enough fruit, salads, sandwiches, and snacks to feed three dozen. "Shouldn't be hard given your super metabolism, but still, better to get started early."

"There's no way," said Peter, though he helped himself to half of a turkey sub. "Not unless Hulk gives us a hand."

"Easily arranged." Tony flicked an olive at Bruce, who in turn shot him a look.

"It's going to take a little more than that," said Bruce. He ripped into a bag of potato chips. "Is all this food even necessary?"

"Sure—why not?" Tony plucked a few grapes off their stems. "It's the first time we're getting everyone back together in, what, years? Might as well make it worth their while."

"As if Steve wouldn't show up unless you promised him ham and Swiss?"

"American," Peter corrected, mostly on autopilot. It earned him a smirk, but as Bruce and Tony continued to tease each other, he was already looking away.

Pepper was at the other end of the table, pouring herself a lemonade. She was chatting with Maria Hill, a SHIELD agent Peter had crossed paths with a handful of times. Well, a former agent, anyway. He had watched her testimony to congress only a few days before concerning the agency's collapse; some of her quotes still rung in his ears. It was hard to imagine that anything slipped past her, let alone an entire secret organization of former Nazis.

Peter leaned back against the table as he munched distractedly on his sandwich. His eyes kept drifting to and from the door. Any minute, and the rest of the Avengers would begin to arrive. It had been two weeks since HYDRA's attempted takeover set the reunion into motion, and Peter still had no idea how he ought to confront it. As eager as he was for the familiar faces and the support they represented—particularly Steve's—a small part of him was already arguing in favor of a full retreat. He wasn't like the rest of them, wasn't even technically an Avenger. They hadn't even started and already he felt out of place.

Peter was readying to ask Bruce for his phone back when JARVIS said, "Mr. Stark, two of your guests have arrived."

Peter lost his appetite. He gulped down what he could of the sandwich as he counted down; he'd ridden the tower elevator enough times he knew just how long it took to reach the penthouse. By the time the elevator opened he was almost light-headed. But it wasn't Steve inside after all: Natasha and Clint stepped out, both wearing civilian clothes, the latter carrying a heavy duffel bag over his shoulder.

Tony moved with Maria and Pepper to greet them. Peter watched them a moment, using the excuse of wiping his hands on a napkin to appear occupied. He wasn't really fooling anyway; already Bruce was at his side.

"It's okay to be nervous," said Bruce. He was trying so hard to sound reassuring that it only made Peter feel worse. "But everything's going to be fine, Peter. You have every right to be here."

"I know." Peter smiled, but he was sure it wasn't very convincing. "It's just kind of weird, you know? Having so many 'heroes' in one place."

But Bruce knew him well enough by then to cut to real issue. "Steve will be glad to see you," he said.

Peter managed not to wince, but only just. "Yeah. Me, too." He squirmed in his skin; he couldn't stop wondering if Steve had seen that photo. "He must have gone through a lot out there. I know he's okay, but still…" He could see Bruce working up to say more, but was thankfully saved by their first guests approaching.

"Parker," Natasha greeted, and they shook hands while Clint shoved his bag under the buffet table. "It's been a while."

As usual, she was a hard read for Peter. "I'm glad to see you're okay, Agent Romanoff," he said. "I saw some of that footage from DC."

Natasha's lip curled in a half smirk. "A spy hates being caught on camera," she said. "If you saved that file, do me a favor and delete it."

"Like that matters now," taunted Clint, straightening up. "Your entire body of work is on the internet."

"You can't fault a woman her modesty."

"Is that what you call it?" Clint turned to Peter and offered his hand. "Parker."

"Sir," Peter greeted crisply as he shook it, and Clint nodded, pleased and amused. "Good to see you again, too."

He half expected some kind of jab about finally being let around the adult table, but Clint only replied, "Same," before shifting attention to the brunch spread. "So, what's any good here?"

 _Sympathy_ , Peter thought, conflicted, as Clint and Natasha endured Tony's sales pitch over the meal. _They must have seen it._

The next to arrive was Col. Rhodes, landing on the helipad in his full War Machine armor. He greeted Peter with that same restrained sympathy that everyone had aimed his way at some point. There was no getting used to it. Then JARVIS announced another arrival, and Peter abandoned all other concerns as Steve finally emerged from the elevator.

He looked perfectly fine. His hair was shorter than the last time Peter had seen him in person, but he bore no trace of bruise or limp, and he was wearing a familiar leather jacket as if nothing had even happened. And when he looked at Peter, there it was: the look that said he'd seen that photo, too.

Bruce set his hand on Peter's shoulder, which offered him much needed grounding. Feeling more stable, Peter flashed him a smile and then hurried to meet Steve.

"Cap!" Peter met him with hand outstretched; Steve's handshake was as strong as ever. "It's really good to see you."

"You, too," said Steve. He looked hesitant for a moment, and then he tugged Peter closer, giving him a brief but firm hug around the shoulders and a pat on the back. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Peter replied automatically. He felt a little better as he leaned back. "It's _you_ we were worried about. Mr. Stark said you were shot a few times."

Steve shrugged. "He exaggerates."

"No no," said the man next to him, who Peter had barely taken notice of. "You _were_ shot. At least twice. That's not an exaggeration."

Steve conceded with an embarrassed nod. "Peter, this is Sam Wilson," he introduced, and the two of them shook hands. "A friend."

"I never thought I'd get the chance to meet you," said Sam, his grin charming. "I've been a fan of yours for a while."

Peter was taken aback. "Really?"

"Heck yeah. My nephews, too. I'm looking forward to seeing some of your moves in person." He looked to Steve and must have sensed something, because started to move on. "I think I'm going to go say hi to Agent Romanoff."

"Good luck," said Steve, amused.

Sam headed off, and the mood changed. Peter thought he knew what was coming, but then Steve looked at him soberly and said, "I wanted to say, I'm sorry."

Peter's heart gave a heavy thud. "Huh?" He shook his head. "What for?"

"For HYDRA," Steve explained, and Peter gulped. "I heard what went down here. HYDRA never should have gotten this far and I'm sorry we put you in that position."

"No, that's…." Peter fidgeted helplessly. He'd endured all kinds of nervous speculation when it came to how Steve would view his involvement in the incident, but _an apology_ was nowhere near any of it. "You don't have to apologize," he said. "I'm the one who—"

Steve took his shoulder, squeezing just as Bruce had. "What happened wasn't your fault," he said, with familial authority. "You know that, right, Peter?"

"I know," said Peter. He could see that Steve didn't believe him any more than he meant it, but by then their peers were crowding closer, and they both let it go.

Once all the necessary introductions were done, Clint looked around the room and asked, "Is that everyone?"

"Almost," said Maria.

The windows went dark. Everyone looked, and the hairs on the back of Peter's neck tingled with warning. Before he could even tense, Bruce was beside him, and seeing him so relaxed reminded Peter what was really going on.

A beam of brilliant light hit the tower helipad from above, glittering in rainbow hues. It only lasted a few moments, though long enough for something to streak down through the center and land with a shuddering impact. Peter held his breath. When the light dissipated, it left only the figure of a man, tall and well-muscled, with blond hair and a long, red cape. Peter knew immediately who it was but he gaped openly anyway as a god of Asgard joined them in the penthouse.

"My friends," Thor greeted happily, and the Avengers met him in kind, sharing laughs and handshakes all around. Peter was relieved to see he wasn't the only one awed by the arrival; Rhodes and Sam were sharing raised eyebrows and even Pepper looked a little star-struck.

"That's…." Peter glanced to Bruce and then back again. "He really is an alien, right? I've seen pictures, but I didn't expect him to be so…."

"Handsome?" Bruce teased.

Peter blushed and forced himself to stop staring. "No! I mean…sorry, I didn't mean—"

"Let's go say hi," said Bruce, and he urged Peter forward into Thor's path.

Thor noticed right away, and though he was already grinning, he seemed to light up more. "Ah, you must be the young spider!" he said, and when they shook hands, Peter was both surprised and not surprised to feel just how much strength lay beneath the grip. "Heimdall's told me about you. He says you have the strength of twenty mortals or more. Even Captain Rogers may not be a match for you."

Peter laughed at the thought. "No, no way." He only had an inkling of who Heimdall was, let alone what he would have told Thor, but he was relieved to see only friendliness in Thor's expression. "I'm strong but I'm not _that_ strong."

"Smells like an arm wrestling contest in the making," said Clint, which turned Thor's smile downright mischievous. Peter found himself intrigued by the prospect of challenging himself against an alien, but Maria interrupted before they could get up to anything.

"That's everyone," she said, drawing their attention. "Feel free to help yourself to some food. When you're ready, we'll gather up around the sofas over there." She gestured toward the room's central setup, where a few tablets had been left on the low table and projected screens awaited input. Everyone grew a bit more serious.

"I thought we were meeting up to discuss a general game plan for moving forward," said Rhodes, directed mostly at Tony. "You didn't say this was a mission briefing."

"It's not," said Tony, but with all eyes suddenly on him, he quickly surrendered. "It kind of is. Have a sandwich, will you? All of you? Can't fight HYDRA on an empty stomach."

He took one for himself—along with the rest of the grapes—and headed for the meeting area. The rest followed suit. Peter still wasn't in much of a mood for food, but he grabbed a can of soda. After being distracted by Thor's armor magically reducing to a more casual state, he settled in the corner of a sofa next to Bruce. Soon everyone was impatient for Maria to start.

"I don't mean to spring this on you," she began as she stood before them, somehow managing to look stern and apologetic at the same time. "I don't have any authority to be giving you orders or missions. There is no SHIELD anymore, no Avengers. What I should be giving you is answers, not our mess to clean up."

"With all due respect, Agent Hill," said Steve, "the Avengers are still here."

"Even more than we started with," added Bruce, and Peter was relieved to see the others nodding along. "And we're not going anywhere."

Natasha took a seat on the armrest next to Clint. "If you have information on where HYDRA's scattered to, we want to hear it," said Clint. "Then we can decide what to do with it."

Maria nodded, and she straightened up, one hundred percent business. "Then I'll start with what we know for certain."

She picked up one of the tablets, and with a few taps the screens behind her flashed to life with images of different SHIELD facilities around the world. Peter had to consciously force himself to look away from The Cube to take note of the rest. "At approximately 11:00 hours on April the 4th, our SHIELD bases all over the world came under attack from covert, rogue agents that had been conspiring in secret for decades. We now know this breach of security dates back to when Dr. Zola of HYDRA was recruited into the Strategic Science Reserve in 1945. Through careful planning and secrecy, he quietly converted agents within his influence to HYDRA's ideals, until they equaled roughly thirty-eight percent of our total manpower." Despite her obvious efforts, the bitterness came through her voice clearly. "SHIELD was compromised before it was even fully formed."

Peter glanced around at their grim faces, hesitated, and finally asked, "How is it possible that they went undetected for so long? Was there really no warning?"

"They were patient," said Maria. "They had a strategy, and they stuck to it." She sighed. "And we fell right into it."

"You should not blame yourself," said Thor, surprising her. "Deception is always harder to uncover than it seems in hindsight."

A respectful moment passed, and then Steve took a breath, drawing everyone's attention back in. "It's not as if we didn't know what SHIELD was capable of. Manufacturing weapons, creating systems of deterrents. Those Helicarriers were only Phase 3 after Phase 2 fell through. Look at the raw facts and the only difference between how Fury or Pierce would have used them is a matter of scale. Whatever their intentions."

"That 'difference of scale' was two million innocent people," Natasha reminded him. "That means something."

Maria shook her head. "No, Captain Rogers does have a point. HYDRA would have never been able to gain the strength it did if SHIELD hadn't opened the way for them. But that's not what matters now."

A few taps of her tablet and the main screen changed to a map, different areas lighting up connecting to the different images of SHIELD bases. "We lost control of nearly seventy percent of all SHIELD's active facilities during the uprising," she continued. "Many of them have been retaken or destroyed. Those, along with most of the ones we were able to retain control of, have been turned over the United States military and other agencies. We have done everything in our power to aid the US government as they track down HYDRA's remaining forces. Isn't that right, Col. Rhodes?"

Rhodes nodded cautiously. "Yes, you've been very cooperative." He pointed toward the map. "Which is why I'm curious about a few dots you've got up there I haven't seen before."

Tony vaulted to his feet. All things considered Peter was surprised he hadn't found a way to insert himself until then. "All right, let's cut to the chase," he declared. "There are bad guys still out there and we're going to find them. And not just your run-of-the-mill Nazi lunatics determined to destroy the free world."

He tapped on the screen behind him, enlarging a satellite photo of one of the bases on a small island off the coast of Washington. "The Fridge," Maria introduced. "One of SHIELD's maximum security detention facilities."

"One of?" echoed Sam with a raised eyebrow.

"It's the 'maximum security' part you should be taking issue with," replied Tony.

Maria shot him a look and then continued. "After we regained control of The Hub from HYDRA, several high priority prisoners were sent to the The Fridge for containment. Little did we know, the Level Seven sent with them as escort was yet another HYDRA agent who hadn't yet broken his cover. He infiltrated The Fridge, released all the prisoners, and stole a great number of confiscated artifacts and devices." Seeing that Clint and Natasha were watching her with particular interest, she elaborated. "It was Agent Ward, acting under orders from John Garret."

Clint harrumphed. "Garret. How did we not see _that_ coming?"

"Are they the ones we're after?" asked Natasha, looking downright predatory.

"No—Garret and his offshoot have been handled." Maria frowned slightly, and Peter was surprised to see her focusing on _him_. "Along with Agent Kaminsky."

Peter swallowed, and he was relieved when he felt Bruce's hand circle his. He didn't know what to say, but he nodded, grateful.

Maria turned back to the screens as Tony called up a layout of the building, profiles from various inmates flicking to the surrounding displays. "I'm afraid we're after bigger fish than that. The CIA and FBI will be able to handle most of the small fry that escaped, but there were a few inmates of particular note that have gone missing, ones I wouldn't trust to an enforcement team that isn't this one."

Bruce went tight, and so did Peter, realizing what Bruce was thinking only a beat before he said it. "Blonsky. Captain Blonsky is loose?"

Tony enlarged the captain's profile on the screen as Maria explained for the rest of them. "Former Captain Emil Blonsky of the British Royal Marines, otherwise known as the Abomination." Security footage from the attack on Harlem played, and when Abomination roared toward the camera, Peter shivered. Even when muted he knew exactly what he must have sounded like. "Underwent a similar procedure to our own Dr. Banner. Since Garret raided The Fridge, there's been no sign of him."

"What about Hammer?" Peter asked immediately.

Maria shook her head. "We've only just learned that he never arrived at the facility he was destined for. He's also missing." Peter looked to Tony, but if he was especially disturbed by the news, he didn't show it. "More importantly," she continued, "we've also learned that Loki's scepter used in the battle of New York has—"

"You've lost the scepter?" Thor interrupted, rocking to the edge of his seat.

Clint, meanwhile, looked like he might have taken to his feet if not for Natasha's hand on his shoulder. "Don't you think you should have _started_ with that? Last I heard we didn't even know what the damn thing was, and now HYDRA has it?"

Maria motioned for quiet. "We're going to get it back. We have a lead."

"JARVIS has been over every line of code dumped by SHIELD," Tony took over, changing the views on the screen again. "Now that we know some of the agents that were definitely HYDRA, we're retracing their footsteps, comparing it to various intelligence sources, current satellite images, etc and so forth. So far we have one primo candidate."

Each of the screens was taken up by images of the base: a squat, round compound nestled in a field of tall grass, with a central building and several outlying huts, not unlike an atom to Peter's eye. "The Vault," Maria introduced. "The largest of SHIELD's research installations during the 1950s, which was decommissioned in 1983. Or at least, it was supposed to have been." She indicated several satellite photos showing heat signatures and electrical activity. "I don't know how they kept it a secret from Fury, but someone has been using this base. While investigating transmission logs from The Cube, we even discovered that they were sending regular updates to Agent Righetti, a security officer there. Everything has been encrypted beyond what we've been able to piece together so far, but we're working on it."

"Is there any particular reason why you think Blonsky might be there?" asked Steve. "It says up there that this place is in Kentucky. There are plenty of places between The Fridge and there he could be hiding."

"Not if he's green," said Tony. "He's twelve feet tall and weighs literally a ton. 'Hiding' is not his specialty."

"Blonksy had to be kept sedated in order to keep him from transforming," added Bruce. "If he hasn't been spotted yet, that must mean he still is. _Someone_ has him. We have to assume it's HYDRA."

Sam set the remains of his lunch down. "So shouldn't we be out there?" he said, and Peter tensed in anticipation. "Instead of, you know, brunching?"

Tony cast a smirk in Steve's direction. "I like this new friend of yours, Rogers. Look how gung-ho is is."

Steve stared back and didn't reply, so Maria cleared her throat and carried on. "Roughly six hours from now, General Talbot is heading a military operation against former SHIELD base The Treehouse. It's a few hundred miles away from The Vault, but we are concerned that a move on one is going to alert the other. If we can hit them at once, that should preserve the surprise for both strikes and make it harder for them to draw reinforcements from each other. Or worse, to go deeper underground."

Once again, Rhodes regarded her with a critical eye. "Since this is the first I'm hearing of this, I assume you haven't told the general he's participating in a joint effort?"

"I have not," Maria confessed. "But I'd like _you_ to."

"Oh?"

"Like I said, there's no SHIELD anymore. I don't have any authority." She looked meaningfully at Steve. "It was keeping too many secrets that got us into this mess. It's time for us to try something new." Her focus shifted back to Rhodes. "I've prepared a dossier I'd like you to deliver to General Talbot. He can send someone to observe our operation if he wants, and once the site is secure, we will turn everything over to the United States military for processing, just like every other site."

"Except for the scepter," Thor said immediately. "It belongs in the vaults of Asgard."

Maria winced, but before she could reply, Bruce spoke up as well. "Or Blonsky. He wouldn't be any safer with Talbot than he was with Ross."

"Look, we can call dibs when we get there," said Tony. "We don't even know yet what we're going to find. What really matters is that we're doing this. Right?"

Only a beat passed as all eyes drifted again to Steve. "Yeah," he said. "We are." He took a deep breath. "But we have some time, still. We'll review whatever information we have on The Vault and come up with a plan of attack. We're not underestimating HYDRA again, ever."

Everyone agreed.

Peter stayed mostly quiet as Maria led them in a discussion of the base's known layout. He paid strict attention, memorizing as much as possible, even knowing that most of it would have been altered by HYDRA in the several decades since it had gone off grid. The others asked questions about modes of entry, possible defenses and capacities. Peter couldn't stop wondering about a green beast that could tower over Hulk and a vengeful mutant encased in bone. _But we'll all be there this time,_ he told himself, glancing around the room at the determined but still calm faces. Clint was twirling a plastic fork between his fingers while pointing out optimal vantage points. _And it'll just be us, and HYDRA. No one to get hurt._

***

Once Maria had laid out all the information she had and they had formed a plan, the group dispersed to prepare. Thor was eager to return to the buffet, and Bruce was relieved when he convinced Peter to do the same. If there was anything that could positively distract Peter, it was a prince from another word promising him secrets of the universe and BBQ chips. Bruce himself stood back, and as he'd expected, Steve joined him a minute later.

"Bruce," he said. "You're the only one with experience against this Blonsky character. How do you think we'll do?"

"If it's just Blonsky, we'll be fine," Bruce replied confidently. "The Hulk was able to best him before, and we're much stronger now than than we were then. And that's not even considering Thor." He frowned. "The only real problem would be if HYDRA has been analyzing his blood all this time and has found a way to replicate it. But I'm not sure even they would have been able to keep it a secret, had they succeeded."

Steve nodded along, though it was clear he had more than a wayward Englishman on his mind. He nodded toward the food spread. "So how is he, really?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Bruce confessed. He looked for himself, and though it warmed his heart to see Peter chatting excitedly with Thor about the metaphysics behind rainbow travel, he couldn't help but wince. "He says he's okay, but he won't talk about what happened at The Cube—not with me _or_ May. Even Tony gave it a shot. He's become fixated on that photo. I assume you've…?"

"Yes, I've seen it. It's been hard to avoid." Steve was watching Peter with that same face of concerned sympathy. "He hasn't been out as Spider-Man since then, either, has he."

"No. I've tried to be as encouraging as I can. I think…." Bruce hemmed, trying not to let his full frustration show through. "Maybe he just needs more time."

Steve nodded. "I'll try to grab him before all this is done," he offered. "See what I can get out of him."

Bruce sighed quietly with relief; he had hoped he wouldn't have to come out and ask. "Thank you."

Soon after, Col Rhodes left to deliver the information to General Talbot. Bruce didn't like the idea of them working together even several hundred miles apart, but there were much more important concerns. Once he was able to pry Peter away from Thor, the two of them headed down to Bruce's floor to suit up.

"He said that most of the buildings in Asgard are taller than Manhattan skyscrapers," said Peter excitedly as he finished stripping. "And pretty much _everything_ is shiny and gold. Can you imagine swinging through a city like that? I mean, he said I can't go, but can you _imagine_?"

"There are a lot of things I would want to see and do if Thor could allow us into Asgard," said Bruce, pulling his trousers on over his uniform. Among friends or not, he was still not as comfortable as some when it came to the form fitting material. "And who knows? Maybe Asgard will need our help someday and we'll get to see it ourselves."

Peter laughed. "It'd have to be some pretty big trouble if the alien gods needed _our_ help."

Bruce finished and looked to Peter. He had most of his costume on and had just finished smoothing down the chest when he stopped, looking to the mask he'd draped over the sofa back. He was hesitant in picking it up. It might have been the perfect time to give him some space, a moment to reflect, but it didn't feel right. Bruce hated seeing Peter unsure in himself, and hated more that even after so much time together, he didn't quite know what his lover needed from him in moments like it.

"Peter." Bruce stepped closer and gently snagged Peter's elbow, turning him so they could meet face to face. "Alien gods have off days, too, you know. Our team may be made up of some of the most extraordinary people in the world, and you're part of it because you belong here. But that doesn't mean—"

"I know," Peter interrupted him, just as Bruce figured he would. "Really, I do get it. You don't have to worry, Bruce; I'm okay." He darted in, pressing a quick but firm kiss to Bruce's mouth before tugging his mask on. "Let's go kick some Nazi ass."

He took Bruce's hand to lead him back upstairs. Bruce allowed it. He just hoped that Steve would have better luck than him.


	2. Chapter 2

****"Just hold still steady now, my good man," said Stearns in his nearest approximation of a British accent. "Almost finished."

Blonsky did so, not even flinching as the needle slid into the inside of his forearm. He did, however, fix Stern with a look of irritation. "Must you talk like that?"

"I guess not." Stern dropped the accent as he injected the drug into his willing subject. "But I'll never get it right if I don't practice."

"Why would you need to?"

"'Damn it, Jim, I'm a doctor, not an actor!'" Sterns quoted instead, chuckling to himself. "Come on, Captain, I'm just trying to stay busy in here. If I don't find ways to entertain myself, I'm going to snap one of these days, and worse than any of you, believe you me."

With the last drop administered, Sterns pulled the needle back and handed Blonksy a cotton swab to cover the puncture. He had been hoping for at least an eye roll, but the captain had only weary unease to offer. It put a familiar heat of frustration in his chest. The man sitting hunched on a HYDRA cell cot had been one of stature, once. He had served his country loyally, at great risk to himself, subjecting his own flesh and blood to the most ludicrous of experiments. Courage like that ought to have been commended, and instead he'd spent the last year doped up and shuttered away, a discarded reminder of someone else's shame. Though the miraculous formula he'd received had kept most of his musculature intact, his hair was thinning and his eyes dull from captivity. Sterns was so overcome with empathy that it was _infuriating_.

"Chin up, Captain," said Sterns, offering a more sincere grin. "At least you haven't ripped through that charming new prison jumper of yours, eh?"

Blonsky snorted, but he did seem to regain a bit of spirit as he straightened his back. "Thanks to you, doctor. I suppose it's time I apologize for wringing your neck that one time."

"Accepted," Sterns replied, packing his equipment back into his satchel. "And you don't need to thank me. I'm just righting the wrongs of my colleagues."

"You did in two weeks what those SHIELD bastards couldn't do in years," Blonsky insisted. "I owe you more than thanks."

Sterns couldn't help but beam with the compliment. "Well, that's probably because I actually _wanted_ to. But don't worry about that now. I'm just glad you're up." He stood, signaling to the guard watching them through the cameras that he was ready to leave. "This new formula should keep you stable for at least forty-eight hours, maybe even longer. I'd like you to do like last time, and write down every hour how you're feeling."

Blonsky made a face at the assignment, but there was no hiding the gleam of honest gratitude in his face. "I will."

Sterns shouldered his bag and turned to leave, and he almost ran face first into the door, which had yet to be opened despite his indication. He waited awkwardly for a few seconds before looking up into the camera. "Um, guard?" he called. "We're done here."

"Stand by," came a response through the speaker.

Sterns glanced back to Blonsky, who shrugged. "He's stable," Sterns tried again. "And he's not going anywhere. You can clearly see that. On the other hand, _I_ would like—"

"Stand by for Agent Weiss."

Sterns' expression tightened with displeasure. "What could _she_ want?" He stepped back from the door, setting down his supply case. When Blonsky shot him an expectant look, he explained, "She's the lead agent of this facility. She's probably going to poke you with something sharp to see what happens."

"Brave," said Blonsky, and just then the door drew open with a hiss.

In stormed Agent Claire Weiss, dressed in combat gear instead of her usual suit coat, her long brown hair tied back. Her eyes snapped back and forth between them several times before settling on Sterns. "Did you give him the dose?"

"Um, yes?" Sterns took another step back, unnerved by the pistol strapped to her thigh. "And as you can see, he's—"

"How long until it wears off and he'll be able to change?" Weiss cut him off impatiently.

The floor rumbled. That wasn't his imagination, was it? "Forty-eight hours at least," said Sterns.

" _Shit_." Weiss scrubbed her face. "Isn't there a counter agent you can give him?"

"What? Of course not!" That time, the floor definitely rumbled, but Sterns was too bewildered by Weiss' behavior to pay it much mind. "This is already an antidote—you don't reverse an antidote."

"What is going on?" asked Blonsky.

Weiss muttered a few more curses before surrendering the truth. "We're under attack," she said, and Sterns felt a pulse adrenaline go through him. "It's the Avengers— _all_ of them. If he can't go big, we don't stand a chance!"

"The Avengers," Sterns echoed. The room almost spun as he considered the possibilities that lay beyond that knowledge, but then again, maybe it was just explosions rocking the building. He turned to Blonsky to help him up. "We have to get you out of here."

Weiss glared at him. "No—you're not leaving."

"If they find you here, Bruce will dope you to your gills again," said Sterns, ignoring her. "He might not care that you're stable. You have to leave."

"What about you?" asked Blonsky as he grabbed a pair of shoes from the room's only cabinet.

"He's not leaving, either," snapped Weiss.

Sterns continued to ignore her. "I'll just let them find me. It's not like I've done anything wrong. Sitwell tricked me—I'm a prisoner here!"

"They might not see it that way," warned Blonsky.

It was more emboldening than Sterns would have thought, seeing his concern. "I'll be all right, as long as I—"

"Neither of you are going _anywhere_ ," Weiss snarled, and suddenly she was pulling her gun from its holster. "Like it or not, you're both HYDRA. And you're too important to be taken prisoner by the Avengers."

She turned the gun on Sterns. He lurched back, hitting the wall, nowhere to retreat to. He could see her finger already on the trigger, but rather than his life flashing before his eyes, he saw only stars. When the gun went off he shrieked, covering his face, but he felt nothing. Was death really that swift and anticlimactic? Something crashed against the wall to his left and he shrieked again, and when he peeked through his fingers, Weiss was gone.

Blonsky was in her place, crushing the barrel of the gun closed with his bare hands. He looked to Sterns. "Are you all right, mate?"

Sterns was pretty sure he'd peed himself a little, but a quick pat down turned up no bullet wounds. "Yes." He located Agent Weiss a moment later, slumped against the wall and unconscious, her gun arm twisted at a strange angle. He winced. "Is she?"

"Not likely." Blonsky dropped the mangled handgun to take Sterns' arm, leading him toward the door. "Let's get out of here."

The door started to hiss shut on them, but Blonsky caught it, forcing it back open with such strength that the mechanisms squealed in complaint. "Well," said Sterns, still a bit shaken as they made it into the hall, "looks like we've managed to halt the mutation while leaving your strength intact. That's good to know."

"Do you know this base well?" Blonsky asked, his eyes suddenly alight and alert, looking more like a soldier than Sterns had ever seen him. "There has to be a way out that will lead us away from the…whoever it is attacking HYDRA, whatever she called them."

Sirens began wailing overhead, and Sterns winced. "The Avengers," he said over them. "There is a way—a shaft that leads out to the forest, where there's a second landing pad. Follow the signs to section E18 and you'll find the entrance."

"It won't do me any good to leave you behind," Blonsky insisted. "In forty-eight hours I'll be right back where I started."

"Then take this." Sterns slipped the bag off his shoulder and pushed it into Blosnky's chest. "There's another dose in there—that gives you four days, enough that you should be able to come to New York. Come to the college and I can make you more."

Blonsky unzipped the front of his jumper to stow the kit inside. "Assuming these 'Avengers' blokes don't toss you in a cell of your own."

"I'll be fine," Sterns repeated. "Worry about yourself for now, Captain. I think you've earned that much."

He turned to leave, but Blonsky stopped him with a hand around his elbow, drawing him back. "Doctor," he said seriously. "Thank you."

Sterns grinned; probably not the most appropriate reaction, but he couldn't help himself. It sure had been a while since he'd felt anything like _pride_. "Thank _you_ ," he replied. "I'll see you in New York."

Blonsky nodded, and he turned, dashing off. Sterns headed in the other direction, deeper into the facility. He was sure that Bruce wasn't so deep in his government friends that he'd lock him up for being a kidnapee. Pretty sure, anyway. The work he'd done in that time was another matter. There was more than Blonsky in the facility he didn't want The Avengers getting their hands on, and he hurried to make arrangements.

_I won't be able to save the one_ , he thought as he ran. _But the others are already with Captain Blonksy, now. They'll be safe…._

***

Peter finished tying up the soldiers and put his hand to his ear. "The west bunker is secure," he reported, making one more sweep to be sure. "I've got four of them tied up in here. They should still be fresh for when General Talbot comes to pick them up."

"Good work, Spider-Man," answered Maria. "And the computers?"

"One sec." Peter dropped into a chair at the closest computer terminal and tugged a small USB drive out of the back of his mask. As soon as he'd plugged it in the screen began to flash with warning lights, SYSTEM COMPROMISED blaring in bold red letters. He watched lines of commands streak by faster than he could read. "JARVIS is in," he reported. "How long before we have the whole system?"

"It's more sophisticated than I expected," said JARVIS through his earpiece. "But I should achieve full control within eight minutes."

"Can't wait that long," said Tony. "C'mon, Thor, let's ring their doorbell—see who's home."

Peter emerged from the bunker and then swung to its roof for a view of the compound. Only a few minutes had passed since they initiated their attack on The Vault, and already their divide-and-conquer strategy had led to them subduing each of the outlying buildings. Only the broad, round fortress at the center remained. He watched Thor leap from a gun tower to join Tony in the armor just outside the main entrance. It only took a warming blast from Tony's reactor and a crack of Thor's hammer to breach the immense door.

"Thor and Stark are headed inside the main structure," reported Maria, and Peter glanced up to the Quinjet hovering overhead. "You're welcome to join them, Spider-Man."

Peter watched the pair head inside and took a deep breath. He was relieved—so far HYDRA hadn't thrown anything at them they couldn't handle. Even if the center was better guarded than all the bunkers combined, even if a slew of giant mutants spewed out, they were prepared. And it felt pretty good.

"I'm on my way."

Peter hopped down from the bunker roof, directly onto Hulk's shoulders. "Just like we talked about," he said, ruffling Hulk's hair. "You're gonna wait here, and if we run into Blonsky or Hammer, I'll lead them up here for you. You want to have plenty of room to take them on, right?"

"Right," said Hulk, though he sounded as reluctant as Bruce had when first discussing the plan. "Careful."

"Of course." Peter gave Hulk's ear an affectionate pinch, which earned him a pleased murmur, and then leapt down to head for the mangled front entrance.

Steve was there waiting for him, and even after having ridden to the site together, Peter never stopped being impressed by the figure he cut in his new uniform. "Be ready for anything," Steve advised as Peter replaced his webbing cartridges. "From the sound of it, they're fighting with Chitauri weapons in there."

The familiar percussion of energy blasts made Peter smile despite himself. It felt like a lifetime ago that he'd swung into Manhattan hoping to fight alongside caped heroes against an alien invasion. "I'm ready."

Steve led the way, and sure enough, as soon as they were through a second entrance, a barrage of bright energy shots threatened to pin them down. A swift throw of Steve's shield knocked one of the shooters off his feet, and then Peter lassoed it with his webbing, flinging it through the ranks. Within seconds the immediate threats had been easily subdued.

While Steve fit the shield back to his arm, Peter hopped up onto a steel railing ahead of them, eager to see the base's layout. It looked just like the schematics Maria had shown then: the entire compound had been fashioned into a ring, the center open so they could see each of the floors below almost to the very bottom. Every round walkway was dotted with hallways stretching out from the center, fluorescent lighting sharp against dark metal doors and railings. More prison than laboratory, to Peter's eyes. He could hear the Iron Man repulsors firing down an opposite hall, while Thor was already a floor below, smashing the HYDRA guns into scrap.

"A word of caution," JARVIS spoke up. "I'm noticing some unusual activity in the base's mainframe."

"Define unusual," said Steve, leaning over the rail to get a look at the lower levels. So far the HYDRA agents seemed to be confined to the first three floors, but there was no telling what lay in the hallways behind the main ring.

"I'm not the only one trying to seize control. And it seems Mr. Stark has discovered a disturbed maintenance duct. It appears likely that someone else is attempting to infiltrate The Vault, or has already succeeded."

"I don't see any evidence of that up here," reported Maria.

Natasha entered through the caved in front entrance. "I've got two little birds watching the exits," she said as she joined Steve and Peter at the rail. "Thought I'd give you a hand in here." Below them, Thor let out a war cry, which was followed by shouts and a loud _boom_. Natasha shrugged. "Sounds like you have it handled, though."

"Have Stark point you toward that maintenance duct JARVIS just mentioned," Steve told her. "If someone did beat us here, you'll have more insight than any of us which route they would have taken. See if you catch their tail."

Natasha saluted. "Sure thing, Cap." And without hesitation she hopped over the railing, grabbing the bottommost rung so that her momentum swung her to the floor below them.

Peter smirked behind his mask. "Is it always like—"

Before Peter could finish, he heard another of the Chitauri weapons firing, its familiar whine stinging his ears with a clear vision of its path. He dodged, and a quick shot of webbing dragged Steve's shield up in time to catch blast. Some jerk two floors below had almost gotten himself a lucky shot. With a hurried "I've got him!" Peter swung down toward him, first using his web to sling the rifle out of his hands, then following up with a hard kick to the chest.

The HYDRA agent hit the wall behind him and crumpled. "Good job," Steve congratulated over the com as Peter righted himself. "Keep going—I'm right behind you."

Peter had been half expecting a "wait there until I catch up," and having Steve's confidence was all he needed. He launched himself into the next scrap, disarming and webbing up HYDRA agents as he found them. Already their ranks were thinning, and it seemed they would soon have control of the main compound as easily as its outskirts.

"Someone definitely beat us here," Natasha reported just as Peter was moving down to level four. "Someone pretty good, in fact."

"If Romanoff says so, we might be in trouble," teased Tony. He was cutting into a sealed door with a plasma cutter; Peter hopped onto the rail just behind him to watch. "Got anything for us, JARVIS?"

"I would agree with Ms. Romanoff's assessment."

The door fell open with a clang. Peter had both web shooters up and ready, convinced there would be a new threat just behind it. Sometimes it sucked to be right—as soon as there was room, four blue-glowing orbs were hurled through. They were wailing with high pitched _beeps_ and that could only mean one thing.

Peter webbed a far rail and leapt clear. Tony, on the other hand, took a more direct approach: he blasted each with his repulsor in an attempt to deflect them back through the opening. It would have worked, had there only been three. The fourth exploded, throwing the Iron Man's arm back with the force, so instead of firing at an incoming alien bomb, the repulsor sheared through the railing Peter had lassoed.

Peter was plenty used to things he'd webbed giving out on him, but he still couldn't help a very un-heroic squawk as he was left to freefall. The rounded interior of the black and gray Vault made it hard to get his bearings while streaking past. But he managed to snag another railing, and as the line snapped taut he was flung into a deeper level, getting his feet up just in time to plow through a locked doorway, and then, a man.

The stranger was sent crashing through another set of doors, into a harshly lit room that might have been a lab. _A least everyone down here is HYDRA_ , Peter thought, wincing, as he hunkered down to reassess. There was a sharp smell of chemicals in the air and most of the rooms stretching down the hall were lined with large glass viewing windows.

"My bad," Tony said over the com. "That was all me. You okay, Spider-Man?"

"Fine," Peter replied immediately. He didn't hear anything from inside the lab he had unwittingly breached, but he crept forward on all fours anyway, just in case. "Looks like I found the science wing."

"Don't get too far ahead," warned Steve, understandably at the edge of his confidence. "We don't know what they've been keeping here."

"I know—I won't."

Just as Peter reached the doorway, a foot came rushing out of it toward him—faster than a foot had any right being. Peter had enough time to brace himself but not to dodge, and he took the kick straight to the jaw. The force of it sent him tumbling back down the hall, and he had the fleeting realization of, _yeah, that's not a human._ He popped to his feet, teeth aching but head still clear, just in time to leap out of the way of a hail of gunfire.

_That's no Chitauri gun_ , Peter thought as he took to the ceiling. He caught a glance of the flashing muzzle and snagged it with his web, but when he tried to yank the weapon out of his attacker's grasp, he felt more than the normal resistance. _Grip strength like that isn't human, either_. It took both hands to wrench the rifle loose, and from there Peter didn't want to take any more chances.

_Worked the first time_. He webbed either side of the door frame and slung himself through it, feet first.

Peter hit the man in the chest, like he had done a hundred times to various criminals, this one included only moments ago. But then something happened that hadn't before; a hand made of metal snapped around his ankle, and instead of jumping free he was dragged to the floor of the lab, tables and desks crashing around them.

"Sounds like he's making friends down there," said Tony.

Peter twisted, trying to find an angle of escape, but suddenly the metal fingers were around his throat. _He's no stronger than Connors,_ he told himself, and he hooked his legs around the stranger's neck to get him in a headlock and maybe dislocate his shoulder. If that was even possible, given the entire arm between his thighs felt like metal. Before he could dedicate himself to an even more drastic counter, he felt the point of a knife digging into his armpit, right where the suit webbing offered its least amount of protection.

And then the stranger stopped. The hand around Peter's throat was still tight but not lethally so, and both of them paused to catch their breath and look each other over. Peter was surprised to find that his adversary looked relatively human after all: just a man in his twenties, with messy brown hair and a face full of stubble. His eyes were intense, but as they regarded each other silently for several beats, his brow furrowed with confusion.

"The hell are you?" he asked.

"Stop stabbing me," Peter replied, "and I'll tell you."

The stranger frowned, but after another moment he let go of Peter's neck and sheathed his knife. With a quiet sigh of relief, Peter unwound his legs. "You're not HYDRA, are you?" he asked. "Are you on our side?"

"Who are you talking to?" Steve asked through the earpiece. "Keep them there—we're on our way."

"I think it's our mystery intruder," said Peter, but by then the stranger was already on his feet and streaking out of the lab. When he wasn't fast enough to catch him with a web, he snagged the doorframe instead, using it to help haul him back into the hall. He only caught a glance of the stranger as he ducked through a door further down.

"Damn, he's fast." Peter gave chase, following the sounds of slamming doors and shattering glass through another set of labs. "Strong, too. But if I can get a clear shot…."

Mixed gunfire and energy blasts erupted further down, and Peter leapt instinctually to the ceiling. He followed the sounds of the fight to another lab, this one much larger than the others. The ceiling was tall enough that he was able to web up to the light fixtures without drawing attention, giving him a glimpse of the scene: his metal-armed stranger was pinned down behind a computer desk, three men with Chitauri guns firing continuously as they moved toward a flanking position. One of them paused just long enough to free a grenade from his belt.

"Always with the grenades," Peter muttered, and he leapt out of hiding to introduce the asshole to his heel.

The first two HYDRA agents went down as easy as the rest of them had. Peter was just about to take out the third when a ball of light streaked into his line of sight from where the stranger had been hiding: the grenade.

Trying to use their own grenade against them. Couldn't fault him for that.

Peter jumped back, but the blast still caught him, sending him flying across the lab. He wasn't too worried until he landed not among computers and desks, but right into some kind of vat. Liquid splashed up around him, completely unexpected. His imagination kicked into overdrive and he thrashed, trying to stick a hand to the side of the vat so he could drag himself free—God only knew what HYDRA kept in its tubs. But by the time he got his grip, the fluid surrounding him had begun to solidify, and he couldn't move.

_No, no no no._ Peter fought against it, but it seemed that no matter how he tried, he couldn't get his limbs to go in the directions he wanted them to, and he couldn't pull himself to the surface. What had only moments ago been liquid was suddenly clinging to him, restraining him as if with a will of its own. His skin felt hot and prickling beneath its pressure. _Cap!_ he thought desperately, too afraid to open his mouth in case it was eating through the suit. _Bruce!_

He felt a sharp pain in the base of his skull, and everything went black.

***

When Steve entered the lab, he found three downed HYDRA agents and clear evidence of a firefight. A broad metal vat took up one end of the lab, its surface dark and glossy, undisturbed. What he didn't find was Peter.

"He's not here," he reported as Thor entered behind him. "Not responding on com, either."

Beside him, Thor wrinkled his nose as he took in the scene. "This was not long ago," he said. "He couldn't have gone far."

"But then where…." Steve turned in a circle, but there didn't seem to be any obvious direction—only the door they'd entered through showed any sign of disturbance. "Stark?"

"It's not easy navigating these corridors," Tony complained. "But I'm not picking anything up. His com must be dead."

"Damn it, Pete," Steve muttered, grateful that JARVIS had had the foresight to cut Hulk's com out of their conversation for the time being. "Who could he have been chasing down here?"

"Captain," Natasha came in, her voice crackling with distortion as if she were even deeper underground than the rest of them. "I think I've found our intruders, or some of them at least. I think you want to see this."

Steve looked to Thor, who gave a nod and then continued on the search. "I'm on my way," Steve said as he headed back for the Vault's center, where it would be easier to descend quickly. "JARVIS, lead the way."

He followed JARVIS's instructions down to the lowest level of the structure, past a destroyed guard station into the facility's main security room. As promised Natasha was there, her expression one that Steve had trouble identifying. She didn't seem to know what to make of it herself, as she waved him inside without explanation. Once he was facing down the "intruders," it all started to make sense.

There were five of them holed up in the security room, roughed up from a fight they clearly had won. They regarded Steve with a mix of relief and maybe awe, but it was only their leader that Steve recognized.

Coulson smiled sheepishly. "Hey, Captain."

***

Peter awoke just as abruptly as he'd gone under, coughing and sputtering, his lungs burning with over-effort. As soon as he had control of his limbs he thrashed, searching again for the edge of the vat, but he found himself merely smacking ineffectively at a man leaning over him. "Bruce?"

"No," said a gruff voice nearby. "Just breathe."

_Is it him? That guy?_ Peter startled when he felt air against his skin—just the bottom portion of his mask had been pulled up, allowing him to breathe unhindered. As his eyes adjusted to the dark he realized he'd been stretched out in some kind of small supply closet, only a bare bulb to illuminate them. The stranger he'd been chasing was crouched next to him, watching him stoically.

Peter tugged his mask back into proper place. "You…did you give me mouth to mouth?" he asked incredulously.

"You weren't breathing," replied the man tersely, as if it had been a great inconvenience to him.

"Oh." Peter sat up, his mind spinning. "Then, um, thanks for saving my life. I guess this means we're on the same side after all."

"No." The stranger stood and turned away, leaning into the door as if listening for anything in the hall beyond. "We're not."

"Okayyy…." Peter put a hand to his ear only to realize his com was missing. "Hey, did you see my earpiece?"

"I broke it," the man said without looking back.

Peter winced at the thought of Steve on the other end of the dead line. "Was that necessary?" he asked, drawing himself to his feet. "We're the good guys, you know. You don't have to—"

The stranger twisted the door open, striding out into the hall without hesitation or second glance. Peter hurried after him. "Can't you at least tell me who you are?" he persisted. "You don't like HYDRA, right? We can help each other."

"You can't help me," he replied quickly, with almost as much force as his kick. "Stay away from me."

Peter continued after him; he thought he could hear something _smashing_ in a lab nearby that sounded an awful lot like a godlike hammer, and with some backup…. "You saved my life," he tried a different angle. "I really appreciate that, you know. Can't you give me a name so I can thank you properly?"

"You don't have to thank me. It's just something I did." Peter moved close enough that he could see the man frowning deeply. "It was my fault the grenade hit you. I would have felt weird if you died because of that."

"That's…a start," Peter said hopefully. "So, friends?"

The man shook his head and increased his pace, which Peter matched. "Come on," he tried again. He reached out to grab the man's shoulder. "At least tell me how—"

The stranger stopped, turning so abruptly that Peter had no way to see what was coming. In a blink the stranger had grabbed him by his suit and was hurling him through the open door of a nearby lab. That time it _was_ desks and tables that broke his fall, and with his head still foggy from the near drowning, it took him longer than usual to right himself. He turned to stubbornly continue the chase, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by a familiar luminescent glow.

It was a huge specimen tube, not unlike the glass cylinders that had decorated Dr. Connors' lab aboard the Helicarrier. And inside was a slumbering giant made of bone.

Peter couldn't help but back away. When he bumped into a control council he jumped and then hurried to check the different monitors, assuring himself with the readings that the creature was still deeply unconscious. Comatose, even. He sighed, turning back for one more look at the living armor that had once been Justin Hammer.

"At least you're safe, I guess," Peter murmured, memorizing the room number as he returned to the hall. As expected, there was no sign of his mystery man. Instead he followed the sound of crunching metal and Thunder God until he found Thor wiping the floor with a few more HYDRA agents. "Hey, Thor!"

Thor whirled, lifting Mjolnir in readiness. It took him a beat longer than Peter thought it ought to for him to relax. "Oh! Spider-Man, beg pardon. I mistook you for a moment."

"Uh…yeah you did." Peter shook himself and waved him over. "Did you see a guy in black go by here? With a metal arm?"

"Apparently _everyone_ is wearing black," replied Thor, with an arched eyebrow that Peter wasn't sure what to make of. Asgardian humor he wasn't getting? "But I did not notice anything special in the arms." He tilted his head suddenly, not unlike a dog hearing a distance noise. "Yes, Stark, here's here. He's quite well after all."

Peter winced. "Sorry if I worried you all. My earpiece was broken." He turned back toward the hall, eager to continue his chase. Even if the stranger was uncommonly fast, the labs were so twisted up there was still a chance they could catch him. "Come on—let's keep going. I want to finish with that intruder."

"With pleasure," Thor replied, and together they continued through the facility.

There weren't many agents left to find. Peter webbed up any they came across, including those that had already been rendered unconscious by their mysterious and violent ally. They found several computer terminals smashed in and smoking, and the server room was riddled with bullets.

"I guess there goes JARVIS' chance of hacking them," said Peter. "If he hadn't finished already."

"The battle is wearing thin," Thor reported, and Peter wished very much that he still had a working earpiece. "It sounds as though General Talbot was as successful as well, and is sending troops to apprehend our prisoners."

"Good." Peter let his shoulders drop. "But we didn't find Blonsky. Maybe he was never here after all?"

There was a crash down the hall, and immediately the two of the investigated. There they came across a small side corridor, and a lab at the end they had overlooked. A man in a white lab coat was inside, rubbing vigorously at his scalp in apparent frustration. As Thor made no effort to hide their approach, he was quickly alerted to them, and he whirled around. There was something familiar about his long face and frazzled hair, but Peter couldn't place him. He was about to web him like the rest when the man suddenly threw his hands up.

"Don't shoot!" he cried. "I surrender!"

Thor harrumphed with amusement. "How novel."

"I'm not HYDRA," the man rattled on before Peter could decide what to make of him. "I was kidnapped—they've been holding me prisoner! My name is Dr. Samuel Sterns."

Peter straightened. " _You're_ Dr. Sterns?"

"Yes! Yes, I'm—" Sterns patted his chest down to find his security badge, which he handed over, even though it only had a number and no name. "I'm Dr. Sterns. Is Bruce—um—Dr. Banner, is he here? He'll vouch for me." He tentatively put his hands back up. "Should I…?"

Thor cast Peter a curious look. "You know this one?"

"Sort of." Peter pinned the security badge back to Sterns' lab coat and did a quick, awkward pat down to make sure he wasn't carrying anything suspicious. "What are you doing here? SHIELD said you retired to Tahiti or something."

"'SHIELD' sold me to HYDRA for the last year—or however long it's been—I don't even know anymore." Sterns kept still until Peter finished and motioned for him to put his arms down. He was sweaty, agitated, but he didn't seem to be much of a threat. "You wouldn't believe the things they've asked of me," he rambled on. "I've been trying to lay low and play dumb, but these are _Nazis_ , right? I didn't—"

"Calm yourself, doctor," said Thor. "You ought to save your breath. Our colleagues will want to hear every tale of HYDRA you have."

"Yes—yes of course." Sterns let his breath out in a rush. "Can you please take me out of this place?"

They escorted Sterns back the way they had come, through the labs to the one Vault elevator still working. By then Peter couldn't hear any further sounds of fighting, and as they approached the main exit, they found Tony dragging out some of the thugs Peter had webbed together. The Iron Man masked clanged open and Tony fixed Peter with a squinty-eyed look. "What happened to you?"

"I uh…." Peter shrugged. "I got mouth to mouth from a cyborg, I think."

Tony harrumphed. "That sounds awesome, but I mean the suit."

"Huh?" Peter plucked at his suit, worried that whatever had been in the HYDRA tub had eaten through the fabric somewhere after all. "What about it?"

Before Tony could answer, the light from the busted entrance was blocked by a shadow, and they looked up to find Hulk squatting in wait. "Spider-Man?" he called, his concern adorable.

"Hulk!" Peter urged Sterns forward while Thor hung back, and together they stepped out of the facility in calm evening light. "Look who we found down there," Peter said as Hulk made way for them. "It's Dr. Sterns. You know him, right?"

Hulk's face screwed up in confusion, and he had to work through a few mumblings before he could get the words together. "Sam? Why Sam?"

Sterns stared up at him, wide-eyed not with the fear Peter had seen many people fix him with, but with genuine awe. "The Hulk," he said, a little breathless. "Oh, wow. You really got it under control after all, huh?"

"Why Sam?" Hulk asked again, with increasing suspicion. "Sam HYDRA?"

"No," Peter said quickly, not that he was entirely sure himself. "No, they captured him, he says. He's still your friend. We have to take care of him, okay?"

Hulk nodded vigorously and then looked to Peter, his brows drawing tight again. "Suit?"

"What is it about—" Peter pulled his suit away from his chest and looked down. At first he still couldn't see what it was everyone was looking at, but upon second glance…the fabric was black. He looked to his arms and legs and quickly realized that the entire costume had been stained completely black, and he had no idea why he wouldn't have noticed it sooner.

"Oh, whoa." Peter tugged his glove partially off, but it seemed that the stain had only affected the fabric. "Damn. It must have happened when I fell in that vat."

Sterns fixed him with wide-eyed curiosity. "Vat?" he repeated.

"Down in the lab." Peter yanked his sleeve up further just to make sure there wasn't any kind of rash, but he felt completely fine, and there were no marks on his skin. "Some big tub full of black stuff. What was in it?"

"You fell in the vat?" Sterns repeated, eyebrows way up.

"Yeah, just said that." Peter turned to him. "What was in it?"

Sterns gave an exaggerated shrug, which might have been terrible lying, might have been frazzled nerves. It was hard to tell with him. "Hey, I'm on a need-to-know bases around here. Are you itchy?" he asked.

"Uh…no?"

"Probably fine, then. Right?"

"Off," Hulk said anxiously. "Off now."

Peter smoothed his suit back down. "I will," he replied, turning in a circle. "There's gotta be extra clothes on the plane, right? I just want to talk to Cap before that, tell him about the guy I saw."

"That might have to wait a while," said Maria, still in her own combat gear as she approached. "He's bringing out our mystery intruders." She winced a little. "It's going to be an interesting conversation. You might as well go now."

Peter wasn't about to go anywhere after being fed a morsel like that. "I don't want to miss anything," he said. "I'll be fine." He glanced to Sterns. "And I want to keep an eye on Bruce's friend here."

"Fine by me," said Sterns with a shrug. "God, I'm just happy to be outside."

They heard a happy shout from within the Vault, and they turned, just as Steve brought his "prisoners" to the surface.

***

Finding the hidden launch pad that Sterns had mentioned was not difficult. The challenge came in afterward.

Blonsky hunkered down in the ferns even knowing they would give him very little cover. He couldn't afford to be still for long, but he needed a moment to think, to be calm, making every attempt to remember decades of training and experience that had once been second nature. There were two HYDRA helicopters on the launch pad, which he knew he could pilot, assuming they had a startup sequence and not a key. It wouldn't do him any good if the Iron Man was around. The second, more tempting but possibly even more dangerous option, was the jet parked near them.

It didn't look like any model he was familiar with, military or otherwise. There were no markings to indicate whether it was HYDRA's or their enemy's. He had passed a few unconscious HYDRA agents, but that didn't necessarily mean anything. He couldn't tell if anyone else was left to guard for either side. He was running out of time and he needed to make a decision if there was any hope of leaving the compound in his own mind.

He heard someone approaching, and immediately he pulled out the bulky handgun he'd managed to steal during his escape. He turned, weapon raised, just as a man came through the trees from the direction of the base. A stranger dressed in black, carrying a rifle.

Blonsky pulled the trigger, but the stranger was already alerted to him, and he raised his left arm just fast enough to defend. There was a squeal of metal being torn, and then the gun was ripped from Blonsky's hand as he was thrown against a nearby tree trunk. A hit like it would have incapacitated or maybe killed someone without a dangerous, experimental serum in their veins. But Blonsky was undeterred, and he launched himself at his enemy.

The stranger was as fast as he was strong; if not for the work of Dr. Sterns, Blonsky was sure he would have been driven inhuman thanks to the frustration of every futile punch and kick. He aimed for the stranger's arm, hoping that the shot from the pistol had at least handicapped him somewhat. The punch landed, but he only succeeded in driving an edge of sheared metal between his knuckles. Then the stranger had his arm twisted behind him, had his chest to the ground.

"Are you HYDRA?" the stranger asked, digging his knee into the small of Blonsky's back. "Answer."

"No," Blonsky wheezed, the case tucked in his jumper digging into his ribs. He ached all over for the feeling of a fist clench behind his sternum, and for the first time he wished Sterns hadn't been so talent a scientist after all. "Are you an Avenger?"

"No." The stranger relaxed, though not enough that Blonsky felt he had an opening. "You're dressed like a prisoner."

Blonsky quaked, digging his fingers into the earth. "I'm a soldier," he answered.

The stranger considered that for a long moment, and abruptly he let Blonsky go. Blonskly rolled onto his back, determined that if he was going to get a bullet, he would watch it come out of the barrel. But the Stranger only stared down at him, still contemplative.

Blonsky sat up slowly, gripping his wounded hand. "If you're not HYDRA," he said, "and you're not an Avenger, how did you get here?"

"The helicopter," the stranger replied, jutting his chin at one of the two choppers parked Blonsky had noted earlier.

"That's not really an option now, eh?" Blonsky wasn't sure if he was making the right choice, but he didn't see how he had any others. "What are you going to do?"

The Stranger frowned severely, taking another silent moment to contemplate. At long last, he offered his hand, and Blonsky used to climb to his feet. "That jet is from SHIELD," he said. "It will have security measures, but I know how to disarm them. We should be able to safely stowaway."

Without waiting for a response he headed for the plane, and Blonsky hurried to follow. "We," Blonsky repeated. "You'll help me?"

"I know what not helping you would mean," the stranger replied. He cast Blonsky a brief but meaningful glance before devoting his attention to their task again. "I was a prisoner of HYDRA, too."

Blonsky nodded. He checked to make sure Sterns' case was secure against his chest, and he followed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I am soooooo sorry for the long wait. Truth is right after posting the first chapter I was given the opportunity to work on an original project, and it's taken up most of my time. But I'm still working on this fic! It's slow going so if you'd rather stop now and wait until it's finished to catch up, I totally get it. And if you're reading this at all, thanks for sticking with me!!


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